RJA #13b: Annotated Bibliography, Part 1

Dr. Kly proposes closer scrutiny historical accounts of the events prior to and during the civil war which traditionally have excluded or minimized the participation of African Americans in the push for their own freedom. He proposes that between 1739 , the date of the Stono Rebellion in South Carolina, and 1858, the closing of the Third Seminole War fought in Florida, that the Gullah/ Geechee peoples, of whom the Black Seminole are a part of, organized slave uprisings, waged warfare and engaged in ongoing resistance to slavery. In it he provides recorded documentation, such as military correspondence and records of historical events which defy the view that African chattel slaves as a group displayed minimal resistance to their forced immigration and captivity.


Bird, J.B. Buried History: 1838 – Present. Rebellion: John Horse and the Black
Seminoles, The First Black Rebels to Beat American Slavery. June 5, 2005. www.johnhorse,com

In this article, Bird raises the question about why historian, both black and white, have overlooked the single largest Black slave rebellion on American land. He holds it is easy to understand Southerners’ need to conceal defeat at the hand of Black Seminoles, yet it is difficult to imagine why Black scholars continue to uphold the suppression of this history.


Periodical Articles
Weik,Terrance M. The Role of Ethnogenesis and Organization in the Development of African-Native American Settlements: an African Seminole Model. International Journal of Historical Archeology, Volume 13, Number 2/ June, 2009, Pages 206-238.


This article is an archeological study which examines the community structure and everyday life of Pilaklikaha, a nineteenth century Seminole community which existed in present day Florida. Its credibility can be attributed to its appearance in a professional academic archeological publication.

Klos, George. Blacks and the Seminole Removal Debate, 1821-1835. The Florida Historical Quarterly, Volume 68, Number 1 /July, 1989, Pages 55-78.
Published by: Florida Historical Society. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30148038
This article examines pre-Civil War, Spanish Florida's African-Native American relationships.